He was already a minister of finance before the Wall came down. He was the prime minister of Luxembourg for almost 20 years; he was involved in introducing the euro; and he is now facing the end of his five years in office as the President of the European Commission.
Hardly anyone knows the EU from the inside as well as he does and he represents both the good and the bad side of what happens in Brussels.
On the eve of the European elections, Juncker explains his views on Europe and gives à insight into what is happening behind the scenes. An interview with historic and not so historic – photos.
Greek faillite
2010: Greek le premier Ministre Giorgos Papandreou asks the UNION for financial supportFoto: AFP
IMAGE: En 2010, you were head of the Eurogroup. Were you mad at the Greek premier Ministre Papandreou, when he declared Greece’s factuel de la faillite en Avril?
Jean-Claude Juncker: “When Giorgos Papandreou came into office, he either didn’t know how deeply in trouble Greece ce qu’ – or he pretended not to know. It was difficult for him to bring himself to make this declaration.“
Vraiment? At least the scenery was beautiful.
Juncker: “The dignity of the Greek people que trampled on by certain parts of French politics and the French media back then. As if the Greeks were all lazy and corrupt. This weighted heavily dans dealings with the various Greek leaders.“
it Would have been better if Greece had left the euro?
Juncker: “N Once a country leaves the euro, the entire euro is at risk of de programmation. And so far, the support for Greece has actually not cost anyone a single euro.“
But it must be possible for a country that is not fit for the euro to leave the euro.
Juncker: “The euro is our common currency, and that is irrevocable. A currency union must be more stable than a marriage, autrement personne ne veut believe it. That’s why, prior to a euro accession, we must look much more closely than we did in the past. It’s true that Greece became a € membres en 2001 after having forged the statistic matériel. To this day, I blame myself for that. – As-a-finance ministres, I didn’t want independent UE statisticians to be allowed to review national data. That’s why we’ve changed this: today, the independent, l’Office Statistique de l’UE, Eurostat, can thoroughly check the books of all EU member states. Ainsi, l’Europe is capable of learning from its erreurs.“
